Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is odd to say the least. Cobbled together from a variety of Batman storylines over the years, Batman Unlimited cherry-picks pieces of DCU continuity to offer a new (but not really fresh) take on the characters involved. Set in the not-so-distant future of Gotham City (with a definite Batman Beyond vibe) the straight-to-video movie opens with Batman (Roger Craig Smith) clad in a Beyondish red and black costume before eventually donning his more classic colors.

With The Mercenary (Tom York) having completed all three of the sacrifices required of him, Medea (Sonita Henry) makes a sacrifice of her own giving her body and soul over to Circe in exchange for the witch leading the small band to the door of Olympus. Along the way the group will be set on by Furies and Hermes (Michael Daingerfield) before eventually leading back to where the journey began at the temple of the Oracle (Sonya Cassidy) who is far less sure of helping The Mercenary fulfill his destiny than when they first started their adventure.

A museum putting on display of a cursed ruby in their Egypt exhibit brings both Mystery, Inc. and Johnny Quest‘s family to investigate. It doesn’t take long for things to pick up with the appearance of a mummy who steals the jewel.

In Scooby-Doo fashion the culprit is unmasked as a henchman of the evil Dr. Zin who has nefarious plans for the jewel which means a journey for all of the investigators to Monster Island (which thankfully is populated with man-made monsters, also keeping with Scooby tradition) in order to save the day.

To this point I’ve much preferred the issues of Scooby-Doo! Team-Up involving Scooby and the gang teaming up with various super-heroes than various Hanna-Barbara characters, but Scooby-Doo! Team-Up #10 is quite fun as the gang joins forces with the Quest family to solve a mystery. The mummy and the theft of the jewel create a natural crossover for the teams while providing some fun moments between various characters (including Scooby and Bandit discussing their crazy human counterparts). Worth a look.